Billy Graham Center Archives

The Archives Bulletin Board

Every month, this Bulletin Board will highlight a new
document or set of documents that are available in the Archives. Come
on over and have a look!

To view items previously featured
on the Bulletin Board, click

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September 2009: "Something's Happening
Inside "Reports on a Revival in Los
Angeles

Sign at the corner of Washington and Hill,
outside the canvas tent in which the meetings were held

At the beginning of 1949 Billy Graham
was and had been for several years a well-known evangelist in the Protestant
Fundamentalist community in the United States, but was practically unknown
to the country at large. This changed when he (and his associates Cliff
Barrows, George Beverly Shea, and Grady Wilson) came to Los Angeles
in late September to lead a city-wide evangelistic campaign.

He was there at the invitation of a local Christian businessmen's association,
Christ for Greater Los Angeles, Inc. A three-week campaign had been
planned. But just at the three week point, the campaign was raised to
a whole new level that not only caused the sponsors to extend it again
and again, but also brought coverage in newspapers and national magazines
across the country. Billy Graham and his ministry had begun to receive
the national attention that he would continue to receive for the rest
of the century.

Later this month, on September 25, the 60th anniversary of the start
of the Los Angeles campaign, the BGC Archives will open a new online
exhibit:

The exhibit will feature audio recordings of Graham';s sermons, memories
of people who participated, photos, newspaper reports from the Los Angeles
and national press, and much more. For the first time in more than half
a century, the general public will be able to hear again the sermons
Graham preached that autumn.

As mentioned above, Graham was a well known figure among
Fundamentalists and Evangelicals. Many of their leading publications
in the United States and England also carried reports on the dramatic
Los Angeles meetings.
The Bulletin Board this month features a selection of these.
Click here
to read the late 1949 and early 1950 reports in Fundamentalist and Evangelical
magazines.